Loose leaf binder



Jan. 9, 1968 rc. G. MOLLE-:R

LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed Dec. 1s, 1965 @4x2 6. Moa-1? BY M66@ ATTORNEY vUnited States Patent O 3,362,411 LoosE LEAF BINDER Carl G. Moller, so E. 37th s1., New v01-k, N Y. 10016 Filed Dec. 13, 196s, ser. No. 513,423 1 claim. (ci. 129-1) This invention relates to the art of loose leaf binders, more particularly of the expandable type.

As conducive to an understanding of the invention, it is noted that where loose leaf binders utilize springurged metal ring loops that may be opened or closed for insertion or removal of perforated sheets of paper, the mechanism in addition to being relatively heavy and bulky, is also relatively expensive to fabricate. In addition, the size of the rigid rings cannot be adjusted so that if only a few sheets are to be accommodated in a binder having large rings, the binder is unnecessarily bulky.

Where a plastic retaining member of fixed size is provided to accommodate the sheets, then it is apparent that where only a few sheets are initially carried by the binder, the latter will be unnecessarily bulky. Furthermore, where the plastic retaining member requires any complex manipulation for opening or closing, insertion and removal of the sheets would be relatively dicult.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide a loose leaf binder which may readily be fabricated at low cost from relatively inexpensive materials and may readily be ,adjusted by the user to accommodate varying amounts of sheets of perforated paper of conventional type within a relatively large range of thickness.

j Another object is to provide a loW cost retaining member which may readily be mounted on the cover member of a loose leaf binder and which may readily be adjusted with a relatively simple manipulation so that at all times one or more sheets of perforated paper will be securely retained in position, yet free to be turned to facilitate reading thereof and without any unnecessary bulkiness of the retaining members in excess of that required to accommodate the number of sheets carried by the binder.

According to the invention, these objects are accomplished by the arrangement and combination of elements hereinafter described and more particularly recited in the claim.

In the accompanying drawing in which are shown one or more various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a loose leaf binder according to one embodiment of the invention, showing the retaining members in open position to receive the perforated loose leaf pages,

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are fragmentary perspective detailed views on an enlarged scale showing a retaining member in various positions as it is locked to hold the pages in place,

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the retaining member,

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of a retaining member according to another embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 7 is a sectional View taken along line 7 7 of FIG. 6., and

FIG. 8 is a detail sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

Referring now to the drawings, as shown in FIG. 1, the loose leaf binder illustratively comprises a rectangular sheet of relatively stiff cardboard or the like which has a plurality of fold lines 11 extending transversely across the length of the sheet along the center portion thereof to deline front and back cover panels 2 and 13.

Secured to the inner surface of one of the cover panels, illustratively the back cover panel 13` adjacent the fold lines 11, are aplurality of retaining members 14.

In the illustrative embodiment shown, three retaining members 14 are provided, where the loose leaf binder is 3,362,411 Patented Jan. 9, 1968 ICC to be used in association with loose leaf sheets or pages 15 of the type shown, having three apertures 16 adjacent one of the side edges 17 thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 of the drawings, each retaining member 14, which preferably is stamped from any suitable plastic sheet material, has a body portion 18 substantially rectangular as shown, with an elongated relatively narrow tongue 19 extending longitudinally therefrom.

The body portion 18 has a transverse slot 21 extending therethrough substantially centrally thereof and an aperture 22 is provided in the body portion between the slot 21 and the end 23 of the body portion 1S remote from the root end 24 of tongue 19. The body portion also has a longitudinal slit 25l extending from the edge 23 into the aperture 22. Preferably, one of the longitudinal edges 26 of the ton-gue 19 has a plurality of locking grooves 27 therein, the function of which will be hereinafter described.

As shown in FIG. l, the retaining member is secured to the cover 13` by suitable fastening means 31 which may comprise a rivet or other fastening member such as a staple extending through the body portion 18` adjacent the root end 24 of tongue 19, securely to clamp the body portion against the cover member adjacent the fold lines 11.

In use of the house leaf binder, above described, the plurality of perforated loose leaf pages 15 are positioned so that the tongue 19` of each of the retaining members 14 extends .through the aligned openings 16 of a stack of loose leaf pages as shown in FIG. l. Thereupon, the tongue 19 is reversely bent to form a loop 20, `and the free end 32 of the tongue 19 is inserted through the slot 21 as shown in FIG. 2, so that it will pass beneath the region of the body portion 18 between slot 21 and the free edge 23 thereof. Thereupon, the tongue is pulled substantially tightly as shown in FIG. 3 to produce the size of loop 20 so that it is just suiciently large to accommodate the stack of sheets 15 with at least one of the notches 27 aligned with the opening 22. The tongue is then pulled upwardly through the slit 25 as shown in FIG. 3 so that it extends above the region of the body portion 18 between the opening 22 and the edge 23, at which time the notch 27 will be engaged by the periphery of the opening 22 to effect a dependable locking action. The free end 32 of the tongue may then be reversely bent beneath the edge 23 of the body portion 18 to enhance the locking action as shown in FIG. 4.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the retaining member 14' is preferably molded from suitable plastic. The body portion 41 of retaining member 14 is also substantially rectangular and the tongue 42 extends longitudinally thereof.

The body portion 41 has an elongated rectangular opening therethrough bridged by an inverted substantially U- shaped strip 43 which is molded integrally with the retaining member 14'. The bridging strip 43 defines openings 44, 45 on each side thereof respectively through which the tongue 42 may extend.

The bottom surface of the tongue 42 adjacent the free end 46 thereof has a plurality of substantially saw tooth protuberances 47 formed therein, the function of which will be hereinafter described.

The body portion 41 of the retaining lnember 14 shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 is secured to the cover member 13' by a suitable fastening member 311 such as a rivet, extending through the body portion 41 between the opening 44 and the root end 48 of the tongue 42. The retaining members 14 are positioned so that when initially fastened in place on the panel 13', the protuberance 47 will be directed downwardly as shown in FIG. 7.

In use of the loose leaf binder with the retaining member of FIGS. 6r to 8, each of the tongues 42 thereof after being passed through the aligned openings 16 in the stack of loose leaf pages is reversely bent to define a loop 40 as shown in broken lines in FIG. 7 and the free end 46 of the tongue is moved beneath the bridge 43 as shown in FIG. 7, so that such free end 46 will then extend over the rear end 51 of the body portion 41. When the tongue 42 is pulled to the right as shown in FIG. 7 to reduce the size of the loop 40 so that it is of just sufiicient size to accommodate the stack of pages, one of the saw tooth protuberances 47a will engage the edge 52 of the bridge 43 releasably to lock the pages in position.

As the retaining members above described can readily be fabricated by stamping or by molding, they can be made in large quantities at relatively low cost. To assemble the retaining members to the cover panel of the binder merely requires a simple riveting or stapling operation, for example, which may be performed automatically.` As a result, the expandable binder of the type above described can readily be fabricated at low cost and with a simple manipulation may readily be adjusted to accommodate a few pages or a large number of pages.

As many changes could be made in the above constructions and many apparently Widely different embodiments of this invention could be made Without departing from the scope of the claim, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire t secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A loose leaf binder comprising a pair of cover panels, a plurality of retaining members associated with one of said cover panels, each of said retaining members having a body portion and an elongated tongue having its root end integral with said body portion and extending longitudinally thereof, said tongue being adapted to extend through the juxtaposed openings in a stack of loose leaf pages, said body portion having means releasably to lock the tongue in fixed position with respect thereto to dene a loop to accommodate such stack of pages, said locking means comprising a pair of spaced aligned openings in said body portion longitudinally aligned with said tongue, one of said openings being adjacent the end of the body portion remote from the tongue, said tongue being adapted to extend through said openings beneath the region of the body portion between said openings, the region of the body portion between said openings being defined by an inverted U-shaped bridge integral with the body portion, said tongue having a plurality of saw toothed protuberances on the surface thereof opposed to the surface of the body portion from which the bridge rises, at least one of said protuberances being adapted to engage the edge of said bridge associated with the opening adjacent the end of said body portion, releasably to lock said tongue in position and means securing said body portion to one of said cover panels between the root end of the tongue and the other of said openings and with said body portion normally lying ilat on said one cover panel with said inverted U-shaped bridge extending upwardly away from said one panel, the end of said body portion remote from the tongue being freely movable away from said panel, whereby when the free end of the body portion is moved forwardly, said body portion will tend to form a curve, thus lifting the end of the bridge away from the engaging protuberance to release the latter so that the tongue may then readily be slid through the aligned openings for release thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,014,780 9/1935 Powell 12.9-41 2,133,069 10/ 193 8i Williamson 129-41 2,425,150 8/1947 `Greenway 129-41 X 2,451,122 10/1948 Sherwood 129-41 X 2,468,355 4/1949l Ambler 129-41 3,197,830 8/ 1965 lI-Ioadley 24-16 3,214,808 11/1965 Litwin 24-16 3,236,242 2/1966 Galiley 129-41 X FOREIGN PATENTS 24,423 12/1962 Germany.

1,271,064 7/1961 France.

365,538 7/1921 Germany.

862,775 3/ 1961 Great Britain.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner. 

1. A LOOSE LEAF BINDER COMPRISING A PAIR OF COVER PANELS, A PLURALITY OF RETAINING MEMBERS ASSOCIATED WITH ONE OF SAID COVER PANELS, EACH OF SAID RETAINING MEMBERS HAVING A BODY PORTION AND AN ELONGATED TONGUE HAVING ITS ROOT END INTEGRAL WITH SAID BODY PORTION AND EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF, SAID TONGUE BEING ADAPTED TO EXTEND THROUGH THE JUXTAPOSED OPENINGS IN A STACK OF LOOSE LEAF PAGES, SAID BODY PORTION HAVING MEANS RELEASABLY TO LOCK THE TONGUE IN FIXED POSITION WITH RESPECT THERETO TO DEFINE A LOOP TO ACCOMMODATE SUCH STACK OF PAGES, SAID LOCKING MEANS COMPRISING A PAIR OF SPACED ALIGNED OPENINGS IN SAID BODY PORTION LONGITUDINALLY ALIGNED WITH SAID TONGUE, ONE OF SAID OPENINGS BEING ADJACENT THE END OF THE BODY PORTION REMOTE FROM THE TONGUE, SAID TONGUE BEING ADAPTED TO EXTEND THROUGH SAID OPENINGS BENEATH THE REGION OF THE BODY PORTION BETWEEN SAID OPENINGS, THE REGION OF THE BODY PORTION BETWEEN SAID OPENINGS BEING DEFINED BY AN INVERTED U-SHAPED BRIDGE INTEGRAL WITH THE BODY PORTION, SAID TONGUE HAVING A PLURALITY OF SAW TOOTHED PROTUBERANCES ON THE SURFACE THEREOF OPPOSED TO THE SURFACE OF THE BODY PORTION FROM WHICH THE BRIDGE RISES, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID PROTUBERANCES BEING ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE EDGE OF SAID BRIDGE ASSOCIATED WITH THE OPENING ADJACENT THE END OF SAID BODY PORTION, RELEASABLY TO LOCK SAID TONGUE IN POSITION AND MEANS SECURING SAID BODY PORTION TO ONE OF SAID COVER PANELS BETWEEN THE ROOT END OF THE TONGUE AND THE OTHER OF SAID OPENINGS AND WITH SAID BODY PORTION NORMALLY LYING FLAT ON SAID ONE COVER PANEL WITH SAID INVERTED U-SHAPED BRIDGE EXTENDING UPWARDLY AWAY FROM SAID ONE PANEL, THE END OF SAID BODY PORTION REMOTE FROM THE TONGUE BEING FREELY MOVABLE AWAY FROM SAID PANEL, WHEREBY WHEN THE FREE END OF THE BODY PORTION IS MOVED FORWARDLY, SAID BODY PORTION WILL TEND TO FORM A CURVE, THUS LIFTING THE END OF THE BRIDGE AWAY FROM THE ENGAGING PROTUBERANCE TO RELEASE THE LATTER SO THAT THE TONGUE MAY THEN READILY BE SLID THROUGH THE ALIGNED OPENINGS FOR RELEASE THEREOF. 